23

23 will always be a memorable birthday for me, I am sure. It started out great, forecasts for flurries in the afternoon, a lunch date with a sweet friend, coworkers who brought me flowers and cake. Amazing. I woke up, Skyped with my mom and opened their gifts like I always did when I was a kid, and headed off to work.

By the time it reached 12:45, my friend and I were finishing up lunch and our lattes (by the way, lavender latte? Insane.) and it had just started to snow. I guess all of Durham got the memo that it was going to be a bad one, because between dropping her off at her apartment and getting on the road ten minutes later, I found myself in a traffic jam that would last for four hours. Mind you, my new drive to work usually takes me 20 minutes tops. So crazy! Things got pretty desperate in my Civic when my gas light came on three and a half hours into my trek, but thank Jesus I made it home to poor Brandon, who had run to the store to get a few supplies just in case our power went out (and a ton of stuff for an AMAZING birthday dinner), and had been waiting outside of my apartment for me to get there for over an hour. Like I said, it was real crazy out there.

When we finally did make it inside and warm, the day got so much better. We enjoyed the snow from the comfort of my couch, ate tuna tataki (our absolute favorite) and smores (my favorite) and watched the world outside get more and more white as the night went on. We drank hot cocoa and watched movies. From that point on, it was perfect.

It's crazy thinking about all of the things that will happen this year while I'm 23! B and I will get married, move into our first apartment, get a dog (please??) and figure out what life as a Goodman looks like. I am so so grateful, remembering where I was this time last year and knowing where I will be next year this time. Even though I succumb to stress like every other human ever, I am so grateful for this life, for this time.

xoxo,

Abby

nashville, and other drugs

Nashville. It has my heart.

I was so reminded of this when we took a trip with a great group of friends a few weeks ago back for the first time since I graduated. It was so bittersweet! So fun to show our friends from Chapel Hill the city that we love for the first time, so wonderful to remember why we loved it, and so sad when we had to go back to real life afterwards.

While I didn't get to see everyone that I wanted to this trip that I had planned, there were some super special moments and I am so glad we made the impulse decision to go. Just makes me that more excited to go back in less than a month for homecoming! :)

 we heart the gulch. 

And now, back to your regularly scheduled blogging.

xoxo. Abby

august.

A few snapshots from my life recently. 

1/2: I got an iPad case! It is so gorgeous and you can find the brand here. 

3: Brandon came back from a week-long trip to Mexico with beautiful presents.

4: Craigslist adventures continue with this 1970's Goodform chair. Can't wait to keep slowly adding to our space!

5: A sweet man at my local Kroger was going around handing flowers out to people waiting to check out. Totally made my day. 

So many fun adventures for the next month and a half are in the works! One (maybe two?) trips to Nashville, settling in adventures, friend adventures, and possibly puppy adventures?? Can't handle all this goodness and can't wait to share it all as it unfolds.

Here's to what's ahead,

Abby

I MADE IT!

Two days, a bunch of boxes, one small U-Haul trailer later, and I made it to Chapel Hill! This week has been quite the whirlwind and this is the first time I've actually had a chance to sit down at my computer, so forgive me for the lack of posts. 

It all started on Monday when I picked up Brandon from the airport on our last long-distance reunion ever!!! It has never felt so good people. Saying goodbye never gets easier when you live 500 miles apart, and I'm so glad we're done with it. :)

edited with the ABM app

Then on Wednesday morning we were off! We got a chance to see my good friend in Jacksonville at the amazing French Pantry and drove all day until we made it to Charlotte that night to stay with Brandon's parents. The afternoon of the 4th we drove to Winston-Salem for a party with friends! We ended up at the most amazingly close place for fireworks and saw one of the best shows I've ever seen. But what made it the sweetest was spending it with these folks.

This morning, we drove in to Chapel Hill! This weekend will be one of a lot of logistics, and I'm excited to start getting settled and getting ready to start work soon! 

Lots more soon! Hope everyone's 4th of July was fantastic!

xoxo. Abby

THE WORLD BETTER WATCH OUT CAUSE...

Oh man, guys. It has been quite the journey getting here. There were some days that I lost all hope that I was going to be able to write this post. But because God is good and bigger than I ever give Him credit for, here we are. I'm employed. At a full-time, salaried-with-benefits-legit-kind-of job. And it is something I'm interested in. And interested in growing in. And it is in the same place that my love goes to school.

I am so happy.

More details on this exciting news later, right now I have to go pack! :)

lotsandlots of love from this girl who will only be in Orlando for a little while longer,

Abby

THE FIRST WEEK IN JUNE

June so far is so fun! I've been in Chapel Hill this week since Tuesday after saying goodbye to my mom and sister for the summer (sniff sniff) as they venture out towards Colorado! Besides the aggressive monsooning, it has been wonderful here. Here are just a few photos from my week and what I've been up to.

1/2) I have become a little bit obsessed with embroidery floss. I'll share some of the projects I've been working on soon but for now let's just say OMG COLORS. Speaking of projects, remember how I told you guys I was going to be a part of that Summer Stitching Club? Well my first mini-embroidery is done! And I am so excited to see what else Mollie rolls out for us this summer.

3) I have found the most wonderful lip gloss of all time. And it is Philosophy Pink Frosted Animal Cracker. Get it here.

4) Sweet cherries. Summertime. Yes.

5) Spending time with this one at Straw Valley workin' on ABAN projects and memorizing menus is one of my favorite things.

What have y'all been up to this week?

xox. Abby

TWO AMAZING WEEKENDS: PART 2

Alright, folks. Here's the good stuff. This kid and I had a surprise weekend! Meaning, I was super sneaky and talked to his med school friends online waaaaay back in February and found out which weekends would be good to visit in April and then bought a plane ticket real hush hush and called him three hours before on Thursday night and told him to come get me from the airport.

That's the gist of it anyways :)

On Friday, I had some meetings and ran errands while Brandon was in class, and then that night we went to a carnival put on by UNC med and out to dinner in Carrboro. We decided to be a little fancy and ate at ACME, a first for both of us, and had some of the best butter beans we've ever had with Brandon's fried chicken. I decided, heck, let's do something crazy! And ordered guinea hen. I still am not totally sure what guinea hen is...but I liked it. A lot.

Walking around the area some was really fun, and made me more excited to some exploring with Brandon soon.

On Saturday, we went to go do some work at Straw Valley Cafe, a new favorite study spot for Brandon, a beautifully restored property that was filled with beautiful art and was one of the coolest places to hang out that I have ever been. It's also absurdly close to Brandon's current apartment, and I know that we will be going back here many times in the future. Being in a creative space like that was amazing inspiration for me as I worked on my first (and hopefully last?) visual resume for a job interview that I had on Monday.

The rest of our time that weekend was spent destroying season 4 of Parks & Rec and eating calzones (What beach week diet?). Every time we get opportunities to just hang out together like we did, it gets us more excited for the future, and think back to how we used to take that kind of time for granted at Vandy. It is so sweet, for sure. Oh, we also made a quick trip Sunday night to The Crunkleton. That was awesome.

In other news, classes are officially over, and I am officially an alumni of my sorority. Wut. Post-Rites of Spring they are starting to construct the graduation stage, and it finally started hitting me last night at senior chapter that this is actually happening folks. I am about to graduate from college.

More thoughts on that later. For now, I need to go eat Qdoba and listen to the new Melodores CD on repeat. Happy Tuesday!

Abby

AN OBSESSION WITH E.L.F

Last week I was at Target shopping for some beauty essentials and random odds and ends for the weekend. I was pretty much out of foundation, and while I was very happy with my last purchase for Clark and Keely's wedding, I felt like trying something new. That was when I stumbled across the E.L.F section. For a girl on a budget like me, it was basically a dream come true.

Bronzer / Lip Color / Tinted Moisturizer / Kabuki Brush

Of course, what attracted me first was the prices. This stuff is ridiculously inexpensive, as you can see by the prices of these products. The thing that has now sold me, though, is that the products themselves don't feel cheap or cheaply made. The bronzer has just the right amount of shimmer, and the kabuki brush is extremely soft and distributes powder evenly. The tinted moisturizer was the star of this trip, the perfect shade for my skin that is transitioning between winter and spring and is super light coverage.  I used these products with some of my old favorites to do my formal look, and I was so pleased with how it turned out.

I have been loving trying new make up and learning more about different products this month. I'd love to know what you've been trying and loving as the weather is finally warming up as well!

xoxo, Abby.

CHICKEN PICCATA

Last night, I made chicken piccata. And there's not much to say about it except it was absolutely delicious and I almost can't wait until lunch to eat it again. I never ate capers growing up so when I experienced them for the first time on chicken piccata out at a fancy Italian restaurant with a friend's parent, I was didn't quite know how to feel about them, but now I love them. My realization this month that my weakest culinary link right now is preparing meat has led me to try several "easy" chicken recipes, but this one definitely tops my favorites, and will be making an appearance in my kitchen again very soon. You can find the recipe here. Serve with your favorite rice or noodles and a salad.

FIVE DAYS IN ORLANDO

This past Sunday, this guy flew in.

And the next five days were awesome.

I realized today that the last time we were together for five days in a row were this August when I visited Charlotte for our two-year anniversary. So much has happened since then, and we are officially halfway through this year of long-distance dating. Hallelujah.

Exploring the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, eating beignets for the first time, long talks over fancy drinks on Park Ave, trips to my favorite record store. Cooking homemade calzones and driving around to see Christmas lights. My second (and third and fourth) rollercoaster of all time. Tons and tons of cuddling on the couch watching How I Met Your Mother and just being together.

January can't come fast enough.

Sunday Afternoon

Working hard, cramming big time, and enjoying the beautiful light from my balcony on my Christmas tree.